Types of behaviour
Some examples to clarify are: the man who complains loudly in a restaurant so that everyone will notice; the girl who wears the skimpiest of outfits on a cold winter night; the mother who sighs loudly and crashes the dinner dishes about so that the family will hear that she's a martyr to domesticity; the child who has a tantrum in the supermarket as his mother ignores him for a second to count her change; the teenager who feigns illness to obtain sympathy. The list is endless.
What characterises this behaviour is that it lacks genuineness.It plays to the gallery. There are telltale signs like the sideways glance to see who's looking, the exaggerated body language, the overly projected tone of voice.
We have concentrated on what is visible to the onlooker - but what's going on inside our heads to produce this over-the-top response?
When we indulge in this behaviour it's generally due to a crisis of confidence. The man in the restaurant might feel that he's a very important person in the community but the staff did not treat him with the deference he deserved. He raises his voice because suddenly he believes he is a man of little note. He sees himself through their eyes - an ageing 'has-been' passed over for the top job. To redress the balance he puffs himself up and shouts for attention.